Sea Eagles keen to maintain strong home record
Manly Warringah Sea Eagles will be out to continue their sizzling form at 4 Pines Park against the Canberra Raiders on Friday night.
The Sea Eagles sit fourth on the Telstra Premiership ladder after eight rounds and will be looking to further build on their three wins at 4 Pines Park this season in front of sold out crowds.
Team News
Sea Eagles captain and half-back Daly Cherry-Evans will take his place after being successful in having his Dangerous Throw charge downgraded to a grade one offence. Ethan Bullemor comes into the starting back row in place of Haumole Olakau'atu, who accepted a two-match for suspension for his role in the same tackle which saw Cherry-Evans charged. Toafofoa Sipley returns from a knee injury on the bench.
Form
The Sea Eagles will be looking to maintain their good form of late after winning three of their past four matches following a draw with the Warriors in round six. They go into the game on the back of a 32-18 win over Parramatta at a sold out 4 Pines Park.
The Raiders have lost their past two matches, including a 40-0 drubbing against Cronulla last week.
Match: Sea Eagles v Raiders
Round 9 -
home Team
Sea Eagles
6th Position
away Team
Raiders
5th Position
Venue: 4 Pines Park, Sydney
Key times
4pm: Ticket box office opens
4.30pm: Gates Open
5.30pm: NRL Warm Up Commences
6pm: NRL Kick Off Sea Eagles v Raiders
Clash of the heavyweights
What a battle up front it will be between two very big and mobile packs.
You only need to look at the NRL Post Contact metres ladder to see that Canberra prop Joseph Tapine sits fourth on 571 metres ahead of Manly prop Taniela Paseka on 564m.
The Raiders welcome back tough working second-rower/captain Elliot Whitehead. Then again, Nathan Brown and Matthew Lodge have added plenty of starch and impact to the Manly pack coming off the bench.
“Elliot is their leader. He is a physical player. You add him to Hudson Young, Papalii, Tapine. That’s a really physical pack,'' Manly Coach Anthony Seibold said in his pre-game presser.
“This is where the game will be won and lost. If we can match what they are bringing and try and get over the top of them, that’s where it will be. They will be coming here with a real attitude of playing flat and fast."
Smooth as silk
We all know Turbo, Chez and Brooksy can score them, but how good have they been going with try assists this season!
Good enough to have all three inside the NRL top 30 list, headed by 'Turbo' with six from Brooksy (5) and Chez (4).
Stat Attack
- The Sea Eagles have won three of their past four games against the Raiders.
- The Raiders have conceded 74 points in their past two games.
- The Sea Eagles have scored 139 points in their past four games at 4 Pines Park.
- Raiders coach Ricky Stuart has won only two of his past nine games at 4 Pines Park.
